William p



No. 607,821. Patented July 26, I898.

w. FQ BEASLEY.

SEAL.

(Application filed Jan. 18, 1898. RenewedDec. 22, 1897.)

(No Model.)

INVENTO Units rams ATEN'I rrncn.

\VILLIAM F. BEASLEY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

SEAL.

- SP1?('JIIFICA'JIIODI forming part of Letters Patent No. 607,821, dated July 26, 1898.

Application filed January 18,1896. Renewed December 22, 1897. Serial No. 663,096. No model) To ctZZ whont it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM F. BEASLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seals; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain improvements in seals for use in connection with seal-' locks, and preferably with such a one as is described in a certain application filed by me in the United States Patent Office on the 6th day of April, 1896, Serial No. 586,412; and it has for its object to provide such a construction thereof as will render it impossible to mutilate a seal and to replace it by a new one without detection or to mutilate the seal sufficiently to open the lock to which it may be applied without effecting a conspicuous alteration therein; and for these purposes it consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of which it is composed, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which corresponding parts are designated by similar marks of reference, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a seal and counterfoil thereof constructed in accordance with my present invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a slightly-modified form thereof.

In order to prevent the undetected mutilation of a seal applied to a lock and its replacement by a new one, I use a seal having concealed marks, lines, or characters thereon and extending to the edges thereof, such a seal being cut from a sheet having the marks, &c. stamped or otherwise impressed thereon, so that by comparing the seal removed from the lock with the counterfoil produced by the cutting of the seal which was originally placed upon the lock the continuity of the lines, marks, &c., will indicate that it is the samerseal, or vice versa.

In making such a seal (referring now to Fig. 1) I take a sheet of paper or other suitable material larger than the seal to be out therefrom and having 011 one side thereof lines, characters, or other identifying-marks and one counterfoil be retained at the office from which the seal is sent and another be sent to the office to which the package provided with the seal is consigned I out the counterfoil into two portions 2 and 2, each of the said counterfoils and the seal cut therefrom havin g by preference a corresponding indicatingmark, such as a corresponding number printed thereon, which, if desired, may indicate the number of the package having the seal applied thereto. That side of the seal which is provided with indicating-marks, characters, or lines, before referred to, can then be used as the back of the seal, and I will hereinafter refer to such marks, lines, or charac ters as identifying-marks, as they serve to identify by their continuity the seal out from the counterfoil, while the reverse side of the seal (or the face or exposed side thereof) may have printed thereon suitable words and blanks, as shown in Fig. 1, to form a label to indicate the origin, destination, and number of the packet to which such a combined seal and label is applied, and, as before stated, such last-named number may be the same as the corresponding number upon the seal and counterfoils thereof.

It will be seen that when the identifyingmarks are concealed from view by applying the seal to an appropriate seal-lock, any person intrusted with a package provided therewith, to open it without detection, must, between the times he opens it and when he delivers it, make a perfect facsimile upon a corresponding seal of the identifying marks upon the one he has destroyed. It is not believed that this can be done, as upon a comparison of the seal taken from the lock with the counterfoil in the possession of the consignee any differences in type, relative position of the lines or figures, character or color of the material, or shape of the seal will be readily detected.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a modified form of the seal in which the identifying-marks upon the seal are on the forward face thereof, which is concealed by a label glued thereon. The use of this combined seal 1 and superimposed label 3 is obviously the full equivalent of the single seal and label above described. In this figure I have also shown a sheet of mica 4 as superimposed above the label and serving not only to protect the label, but also to afford a ready means of detecting the insertion of the key, as I have found that it is practically impossible to manipulate mica so as to prevent the concealment of a perforation therein.

I may, if I so desire, secure upon the under face of the seal shown in Fig. l or between the label and seal in Fig. 2 (which in this case should be made of combustible material) and in that portion thereof that would be mutilated to open a lock provided with a seal a cap 5 of some fulminating compound which upon the insertion of the key will explode and burn a small portion of the seal. The quantity of fulminate to accomplish this need not be so great as to cause any dangerous effects from its explosion, it being only necessary that it ignite or char the combustible seal or label so as to discolor it.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is 1. The hereinbefore described seal and counterfoil thereof, each having portions of continuous identifying-marks thereon, the

marks upon the seal being concealed when the latter is in use, substantially as described.

2. The hereinbefore-described seal and counterfoil thereof, each having portions of continuous identifying-marks thereon, the marks upon the seal being concealed when the latter is in use and counterfoil being cut into a plurality of pieces, each having portions of the identifying-marks, thereon, substantially as described.

3. The hereinbefore described seal and counterfoils thereof, the seal being cut from the counterfoil, and the counterfoil so formed being severed, whereby each piece thereof is apartial counterfoil of the seal, substantially as described.

4. The hereinbefore-described seal, consisting of a sheet of suitable material having a sheet of mica superimposed thereon, substantially as described.

5. The hereinbefore-described seal, consistin g of a sheet of combustible material having a fulminating substance in the portion thereof to be mutilated, whereby the sheet will be burned upon the explosion of the fulininate, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WVILLIAM F. BEASLEY. lVitnesses:

VERNON M. DORSEY, J. D. OOUGHLAN. 

